Going For The Gold
by Ksey15
Summary: Troy and Gabriella have been skating together since they were young. Will love blossom as they work towards the Olympic podium. Sorry i suck at summaries
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I feel really bad, but Wildcats is officially on hiatus, I'm kinda stuck on it and I don't feel like writing, so I'm just going to take a step back from it. And sorry if I use this as an excuse but I'm really busy, with graduating this year, cheerleading, volunteer work and leadership stuff, and stupid me decided to join basketball, so... Anyway this story based on Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, my favorite athletes (I want to get their book so bad, but my family won't let me since Christmas is coming up lol) Anyone who knows me knows I was obsessed with the Olympics this year (GO CANADA!) and was equally obsessed with Tessa and Scott. haha. So anyway hope you enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HSM, T&S, although Green Lake is mine haha**

For as long as Maria Montez could remember her daughter Gabriella, loved figure skating. When she was a baby and she was fussy, she would put Gabriella in her exersaucer in front of the television and skating would be on and Gabriella would be calm. Her mom decided to enrol her in lessons when she was five in the only skating rink in town. The Town of Green Lake was small town, where everybody knew everybody. The closest town was Albuquerque, which was about an hour away. So once she turned seven years old, the family packed up and moved to Albuquerque so she could go to the bigger rink and also go to a better school that had more than just six people in her class.

* * *

Lucille Bolton rolled her eyes as her son goofed off on the ice. She was preparing for skating lessons for kids 7-9 years old that she taught. Her son, Troy, whined and complained the entire week leading up to the first day of lessons. He tried to convince his mom to let him join hockey like all the other nine year old boys in his class. Lucille insisted that he join figure skating first to learn the basis of skating, plus he was kind of a smaller boy for his age, so she was afraid to let him join hockey. Though the latter she wasn't going to tell him that. Lucille and her sister, Anne, grew up taking skating lessons and both had a chance to move forward in their skating careers, but choose to get married and start a family instead. Lucille had married Jack Bolton and had their son Troy and moved into a suburb of Albuquerque. Her sister, Anne, had married Mark Graham and had two daughters, Allie, who is six, and Melissa, who is ten years old.

Lucille chuckled as she saw Troy chase Allie and Melissa across the ice, in a game of tag. Allie caught her toe pick and went sprawling across the ice. Troy went to Allie to tag her, but pretended to trip so she could get back up and skate away. Anne smiled at her nephew; she believed her sister had done well with Troy. Unlike some boys his age, he was kind and thoughtful, not to say he didn't have immature moments. All in all he was a good kid.  
"All right girls, time to go, Dad's waiting outside," Anne yelled out into the rink. The two girls came off the ice and quickly took off their skates, gave their mom a kiss and ran to meet their dad. As the two girls left, a couple of girls came through the door, ready for class.

* * *

Gabriella's eyes got big as her mom pulled up to the Albuquerque Multiplex. It was way bigger than the tiny Green Lake Ice Rink. Her mom popped the trunk and pulled out Gabriella's purple figure skating bag and laughed at Gabriella's face.

"It's a lot bigger than Green Lake huh, sweetie," Maria smiled. Gabriella merely continued to stare at the large building. The two of them made their way through the door. The first thing they came across was a massive revolving sculpture. The sculpture had different athletes, sports such as dance, hockey, figure skating, basketball, etc. Below the sculpture, there was pond like spot, full of people's wishes. Maria grabbed her purse and took out a penny, "Do you want to make a wish?" She asked her daughter. The little brunette girl nodded her head quickly. She took the penny in the palm of her hand and shut her eyes tight. The bronze coin flew out of her hand and into the water. "What did you wish for?" her mother asked. "Mommy if I tell you it won't come true," Gabriella explained. "Oh, ok," Maria laughed.

They made their way to the rink and opened the door to reveal the large sheet of ice. There were many little boys and girls skating across the ice. Maria looked down to see her daughter beaming, "let's go put on your skates," she said. Maria tightened up the pristine white skates on Gabriella's feet. "Ok, sweetheart, have fun!" she wished her daughter as she stepped out onto the ice.

* * *

A few weeks later Anne and Lucille decided to train in ice dancing. They started to pair the kids to see how well they worked together. The put Troy with Ashley, the little girl with tight blonde ringlet curls. Lucille and Anne watched as the two attempted to skate across the ice. "ARG! Mrs Bolton, Mrs. Graham he keeps screwing up the moves," The nine year old girl complained. Lucille sighed and looked around the rink for another girl to try skating with her son. "What about Emily?" Lucille suggested to her sister. "We could give it a try," Anna replied. Emily and Troy skated around the rink, they were ok, but something was missing. Every time Troy would mess up, Emily would get frustrated with him "That's not working out," Anna said. Lucille nodded her head in agreement.

Lucille watched as her son goofed around with some of the other boys in the class and sighed. Her son didn't have the attention span long enough to pay attention to the steps. Her son had always been the class clown, not taking much seriously. She searched through the number of girls in the class that could match his outgoing personality.  
"What about her?" Anne asked. Lucille looked to where she was pointing to, only to see Gabriella Montez. Gabriella was the quietest girl in the whole class. She was shy, reserved, and polite, she didn't really talk much, but she had a lot of heart and passion for skating.  
"Are you sure," she asked, doubtful.  
"I just have this feeling," Anne said.  
"Ok, we can try it," Lucille replied.  
They called over the two kids and asked them to skate together. For the first time in Lucille and Anne's lives, they saw, or rather heard Troy go quiet. The two of them held hands and skated in silence around the rink. There wasn't something overly special about them, but they had some sort of magic between them. They balanced each other out like yin and yang. Gabriella, the shy and quiet one, and Troy, the loud and kind one.  
"What do you think?" Anne asked.  
"I think they are perfect," Lucille smiled.

**Hope you enjoyed the intro chapter, read and review  
-Kathryn 3 **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: i'm trying not to disappoint you guys, with all the reviews and alerts, so here's the next chapter. I've been working on it in the few minutes I have. Like tonight I have parent/teacher interviews and a grad meeting, but i get my grad ring tonight! So sorry it's so short, but here it is 3**

The magic stayed between the two of them. After two years, they kind of got out of their awkward stage towards each other. For two years, they would just hold hands and skate around in silence, to the amazement of Troy's family. When the two first started skating together, Gabriella's and Troy's fathers would joke about how they would get married when they got older. This only fuelled Gabriella and Troy's embarrassment. Eventually it died down and the two became more comfortable with each other.

When Gabriella was ten years old and Troy was twelve years old, their skating went from being some sort of past time, to competitive. The two of them winning first place in numerous regional and sectional competitions. The judges saw what Lucille and Anne saw, raw talent and passion. By the time they were thirteen and fifteen, they were the top contenders for the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championship or 'Nationals' as they were commonly called.

* * *

"I'm not sure about this," Lucille cringed. Troy was so small; they wondered how he was going to be able to perform some of the lifts in the new program. He had been able to lift Gabriella in his arms and such, but now they had debating whether or not to but in more complicated lifts in to raise their level of difficulty. Anne had believed that Troy would be able to flip Gabriella to his back and hold her there completing the lift. Lucille had been nervous since day one and it's not to say there weren't any injuries. Gabriella face-planted into the ice once and almost broke her nose and Troy had bruised and sprained his wrist. Lucille had refused to be in during practice for a while, seeing Gabriella hit the ice too many times. After months of practice, Anne had convinced Lucille to come watch them practice their lifts.

"I can't watch," she said as she covered her eyes with her hands. Anne laughed at her sister and uncovered her eyes, "just watch," she said. Gabriella and Troy glided across the ice gracefully and Troy picked Gabriella up and flipped her to his back, successfully completing the lift. The pair continued to dance effortlessly across the ice.

"Th-they, th- they did it!" Lucille stammered. Anne smiled, "they've had it for about a week, but now it's so much better, Troy does it with ease," she said proudly.

* * *

At thirteen, Gabriella had so much poise and grace; it would make a grown woman jealous. It's no to say she wasn't still a thirteen year old girl; she still liked to shop, and hang out with friends and talk about lip-gloss and boys.

One night Gabriella had invited her friends from school for a sleepover, a rare occasion for Gabriella. She had her plate full with school, skating, ballet, and stretch classes. Anne and Lucille had decided the pair had worked hard enough and let them have a few days off.

"So what's it like, you know, skating in front of a crowd?" her friend, Roxanne asked.

"It's nerve-wracking and amazing at the same time, it's the waiting before you go on, your stomach is in knots and you feel like you're going to be sick, but once I'm out there and I'm skating it just goes away and you get like this rush," Gabriella explained.

"I could never do that," her other friend, Jesse laughed.

"But Troy is pretty cute," Roxanne giggled. Gabriella arched her eyebrow, "Eww, he's like my brother, that's weird." Gabriella explained.

"All right..." Roxanne said, "Just remember to invite me to the wedding," she smirked. Gabriella rolled her eyes and smacked her with her pillow.

* * *

The last couple of months had been leading up to this. Gabriella climbed into the seat next to Troy in the back. Gabriella's parents were going to drive them to Dallas, Texas and Troy's mom and aunt were going to meet them there. Troy didn't mind though, Gabriella's family had become like a second family to him and vice versa. The two sat in the back, ear buds from Gabriella's Ipod in both of their ears. "Your music sucks," Troy complained. Gabriella laughed, "Not my fault you forgot your iPod, you can either sit and silence or listen." Troy looked at her and couldn't help but smile, "Fine." David and Maria simply rolled their eyes and chuckled at the two kids in the backseat.

After a few hours into the trip Maria had noticed that the car had become silent, the only noise was the faint singing from the radio. She looked back to see Gabriella leaning against Troy's shoulder, both fast asleep. The weather had been a little chilly due to it being in the middle of winter, so Troy's sweater was draped across the front of Gabriella. "Ha-ha, I told you they are going to married some day," David smirked.

* * *

Gabriella took a deep breath in as she walked into the ladies change room. Her mom followed her as she took a small corner in the room to put her costume, and make-up, and other skating essentials. She quickly put on her tights and the simple midnight blue dress. She sat down, listening to her Ipod as her mom fussed around with her hair and makeup. Her mom braided the front of her bangs and put the rest into a bun. In her skating bag, she pulled out her skates with pink skate guards and put them on her feet, tying them up tight. Quickly, she put on her black yoga-like jacket on and went out to watch some of the performances. Her stomach felt like it was in knots and her heart was going like a mile a minute. "You ok?" she heard a voice behind her. She whipped around to find Troy standing behind her smiling. That was one thing that you could count on from Troy was a smile. He always seemed to be cool and calm, while she was freaking out over competitions; he was more go with the flow. "Yeah, I'm fine," she stuttered.

She skated out to the middle of the ice, holding Troy's hand. She felt a squeeze of the hand and looked at Troy. Looking into his eyes, it was like they were talking to each other, just by the squeeze of the hand. Just by that squeeze of the hand, he knew that they were going to be ok, and suddenly all those knots went away.

Gabriella paced in the arena's lobby, waiting for the final scores to be released. Her nails chewed down to stubs, she was so nervous. "Gabriella!" Troy called as her ran towards her. "We got second, we're going on to Worlds!" he yelled. "W-w-w-WHAT?" she cried. "Oh my god!" she laughed. Gabriella jumped into Troy's arms as her spun her around.

* * *

The next couple of months seemed to be like a blur, the next thing they knew World's was happening and they were on a plane to World's. When they went to the rink for World's, Troy and Gabriella saw many different kids there, and Gabriella's stomach went into knots. Though once again, when they were out in the ice, that squeeze of the hand relieved her of those knots.

She watched as the city of Albuquerque came into view as the plane descended back onto the ground. She waited as all the passengers exited the plane, and when everyone passed, Troy, her parents, Troy's parents, his aunt and she proceeded to get their carry-ons from above them. They made their way out of the plane and waiting in silence as the luggage carousel. David and Jack went and brought the cars around. Troy gave Gabriella a hug and they both went their respective ways. By the time she got home it was about two thirty in the morning. She lay down on her bed and was about to turn of the lamp beside her bed, her phone on the bed side table buzzed.

"Hello?" she answered.

"How's it going World champ? Doesn't feel real, does it?" Troy asked.

Gabriella took a deep breath in and sighed happily, "It feels surreal," she smiled.

**Read and Review, Love you guys!**

**-Kathryn**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated lately, I got a job and I'm working almost everyday, but today I was home sick. So I decided to write so more. Sorry if I'm screwing up competitions and stuff in the story because A. I am Canadian not American and B. I'm the cheerleader/dancer in the family, my cousin is the skater of the family, but anyway ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Elena and Todd**

At age fifteen and seventeen, Gabriella and Troy had many gold and silver medals from numerous events and were the Junior World champs. That year, they decided to move them up as a senior team. Lucille and Anne decided that it would be in their best interest if they found a different coach. So the pair ended up packing up and moving in to billets in Salt Lake City, Utah. The two of them stayed with an older couple that had no children in the house any more, and the couple welcomed the kids with open arms. Their new coach, Elena Zaytseva, had decided that the two would go for a more mature look.

Gabriella, Troy, Elena walked into the tiny seamstress shop to pick out their costumes. Elena and Gabriella had picked out a sparkly light blue dress that had thin straps crossing over her muscular back. For Troy, they had picked out black pants with a white button up shirt and black vest over top. In the change room, Gabriella put on the sparkly dress and stared at the mirror for awhile. Just putting on the costume made her feel and look older. As she pulled back the curtain of the fitting room, she felt everyone's eyes on her.

"Sweetheart, you look amazing," Elena spoke in her heavy Russian accent. Elena and the small seamstress praised her on her gorgeous she looked in her costume. She turned around to Troy, "what do you think?" she asked. He smiled, "you look...beautiful." She blushed and went back into the fitting room.

Even though the two were now considered to be a senior team on a national level, they were still a junior team internationally. Their first event as a senior team was Nationals. Troy tied his bowtie on, "you know I think this is why kids used to make fun of me," he laughed. Up until they moved to Utah, the two attended regular school, but now with their schedule, they were both homeschooled. Gabriella was actually incredibly intelligent and had skipped a grade, so she was only a grade behind Troy.

"You know, I think it makes you look adorable," she laughed as she straighten his tie.

"Gee, thanks," he replied sarcastically. The two of them were called onto the ice; Troy grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. That squeeze expressed so much that words couldn't.

Troy and Gabriella made their way to the kiss and cry area. Troy in between Gabriella and Elena, he squeezed the top of Gabriella's knee as they waited for their final scores. After the compulsory and original dance they were sitting in fourth place.

As the two left the change rooms, they met up with their parents. They handed them both bouquets of roses. "Fourth place it good for our first senior event," Gabriella smiled. Troy put his arm around Gabriella as they made their way out to the parking lot to their cars.

* * *

For the longest time the way they described their relationship, was that they had brother-sister relationship. If one was in trouble, the other was there to help out. If one of them was having a tough time, the other one was there to get them through.

Being home schooled, they didn't have a normal teenage life. Their days normally consisted of running, stretch class, ballet class, tutoring, and training on the ice. Their schedule really didn't leave much time to act like regular teenagers. Though there were some instants that the two of them really were teenagers.

Troy walked down the hallway to his room and on his way he had to pass Gabriella's room. Normally he'd just head straight into his room, but that day, something stopped him. Behind the door he heard Gabriella's hushed sobs. He cautiously opened the door and slowly stepped in.

As soon as she heard the door open, she frantically wiped the tears off of her face, "W-what?" her voice cracked. Troy walked over and put his arm around her. He looked into her red, watery eyes," What's wrong?" he asked.

He heard her soft voice scoff, she pushed back her long brown locks and lightly rolled her eyes, "It's nothing," she replied. He looked at her with an 'are you serious look'. She giggled and pushed away his face with her hand.

She took a deep breath, "So...I went on a date with Todd Parker, you know, the captain of the Varsity hockey team that practices at the rink?" she started.

As Troy nodded, she continued, "So we went out for dinner and I went to the bathroom...and when I got back to the table, he left a note saying he couldn't handle a girl with so much baggage." she choked out.

Troy brought Gabriella close to his chest and hugged her. He knew that it wasn't so much that she really did like the guy; it was the fact that it was her first date.

Finally when Gabriella was completely calm the two of them laid down on Gabriella's bed, in each other's arms. Gabriella looked up and softly pushed away a strand of hair that fell into his eye. She smiled a half-smile, "Why can't all guys be like you?" she asked as she snuggled deeper into his chest.

Troy played with her long curls as Gabriella fell asleep and soon he too was fast asleep.

* * *

A few months later, their skating season had ended for that year, the two returned to Albuquerque for a few weeks to spend time with their family before they had to start training for their next season. She sighed as she packed the last of her clothing into her suitcase.

She turned around as she heard a faint knocking on the door. Behind her was Troy leaning against the door frame. "You ready yet? We got to hit the road," he said. The two had decided that they were going to road trip it Albuquerque in Troy's truck.

She zipped up her suitcase and pulled it off her bed," Let's go" she said. Troy grabbed the suitcase from her hand and the pair left.

**Read and Review  
-Kathryn **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hopefully I will be able to publish more, since cheerleading is over, I'm done my job as it was only the Christmas season, and leadership is coming to an end, although final exams are coming up and they are worth 50% of my final grade... so no pressure lol. How was everyone's Christmas, mine was amazing I got the Tessa and Scott book and Olympics mittens haha. I don't know much about 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg', it was directly taken from their book. Enjoy!**

Her hands shook as she smoothed the light fabric across her stomach. As she looked in the mirror, she barely recognized herself. The sixteen year old girl was in a very revealing costume. The magenta dress was very short, the cut-outs on the stomach replaced with flesh coloured fabric. Her one shoulder exposed and the other covered by the sparkly material. Her chocolate covered eyes were enhanced by the dark makeup on her eyes and her long dark locks pulled back into a ponytail, the ends all curled.

She took a deep breath and walked out to the rink. She walked up to Troy who was dressed in all black.

"Pretty crazy right?" he asked. "I mean, we are officially a senior team, like now we're internationally recognized."

Gabriella laughed, "Yeah, it feels like just yesterday, we were a couple of kids just skating together because we had to."

Gabriella's stomach twisted in knots as she watched some of the teams compete. She crossed her arms in front of her stomach, trying to cover herself a bit.

"Would you quit, you look amazing," Troy reassured Gabriella. A rosy tint graced her cheeks as the eighteen year old complemented her.

She shook her head and looked out into the ice, she saw all the people who had come out to watch Skate Canada International. All the TV cameras filming everything that happened.

Elena came up to the two of them, told them it was time to take the ice. With shaky legs she stepped out onto the ice. As the tango music came on, Troy dipped her and ran his hand up her stomach to her chest. She came back up and his hands went to her backside. It was weird because the two had never been so intimate with each other, but comforting at the same time, since they were so close.

As the two skated around the ice with their intricate spins and lifts, the judges watched closely. The two ended with a flourish as he dipped her once more holding her there.

Gabriella unpacked her bag as she was back in her billet house. She took her silver medal and placed it on the shelf along with her other medals.

* * *

After numerous bronzes, silvers, and golds, the two decided to take part in the ice shows. They toured to places from right there in the States all the way to places like Japan.

One of Gabriella's favourite places to go was to Paris, France. The pair spent the day before they had to preform just sightseeing. Anyone on the street would have mistaken them for a romantic couple in love, as the two strolled through the city holding each other's hands and taking in all the sights the city had to offer.

When they had begun to pick out their music for their season, Elena had chosen the theme from 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'. The young teens, decided in order to immerse themselves in the characters, that they would rent the movie.

Troy pulled into the parking lot of the blockbuster and the two went in to search for the movie. Searching through the shelves, Troy picked up a movie and went over to Gabriella.

"Brie, we have to rent this movie," he said holding up a copy of 'Bloodsport'.

"Troy, we're supposed to be looking for 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg'. She looked at him as he tried to give the pathetic puppy dog face she'd ever seen. She sighed, "Fine, but, we have to get 'Funny Face' too then," she bargained.

Troy sighed and agreed; the two quickly found their movie in the drama section and left with their three rentals.

Troy sat next to Gabriella on the couch in the living room, preparing to watch the movie. Indulging in popcorn with butter, but still drinking water, they started the movie. The movie told the story of a teenaged umbrella saleswoman and a young mechanic who fall in love. He is called away to war, unaware that she is carrying his baby, and although they promise to wait for each other, she marries another man who will support her. They never get back together.

Gabriella felt as if the story was her and Troy. It was two young kids trying to figure out their love for each other. Instead of interpreting their own version of the song, they were to portray these characters. A couple of young naïve kids who fall in love and at seventeen and nineteen, it wasn't hard to do.

* * *

The World Championships were exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. The two were confident in their programs, their emotional and bittersweet free dance and their powerful Russian folk original dance. Though, at the same time there were many talented pairs competing against the young team.

Gabriella made her way to the girls' dressing room with her mom. Placing her stuff in a chair, she started to get ready as her mother left to sign her daughter in.

"Um, excuse me, what the hell do you think you're doing? That's my spot." A tall brunette huffed at the small girl.

"Sorry?" she said as she moved her stuff to another spot. She noticed that the atmosphere was a lot different than juniors. Sure, they had their rivalries and bitterness, but in here some of the girls in the change room were just plain nasty.

Troy and Gabriella skated on to the ice. Troy wore a blue shirt that matched her dress, and a pair of black pants. Gabriella was in a simple blue dress that sparkled in the light. The two had decided that instead of looking like a three-ring circus performer like some skaters had chosen to do, they would let their skating speak for it-self.

The two performed their passionate program, the song blaring over the loud speaker. The lyrics telling the story of the two young lovers. The young woman pleading for her love to stay with her and him saying it was impossible. The crowd were mesmerized by the pair that were just teenagers, but yet skated as the couples who were ten years older than them. They skated with so much passion and maturity. The TV commentator stated that they were the team to watch in the Olympics in two years.

Gabriella and Troy did their last spin and came close together as they had done so in practices leading up. Although this time, Troy got so close that his lips brushed over hers. It was so quick and so soft that it ended in a matter of seconds. As the two finished, they were met by a standing ovation from the enthusiastic crowd.

Gabriella felt her cheeks flush into a pink tinge that could be mistaken for the cool air in the rink or the flush after the strenuous routine. Troy twirled her around to face the energetic crowd, all waving their flags proudly. Troy was completely cool and calm as the two skated off the ice; as he placed another kiss upon her cheek.

Gabriella and Troy stood proudly on the podium, just lower than the gold medalist, with their silver medals adorning their necks. Gabriella glanced over to the other side of the podium to third place, to see the brunette from earlier, seething.

Gabriella leaned into Troy's arms as the two smiled for photos. The two had never really explored the idea of being together romantically, it just never came up. Sure the two had "dated" when they were in their first year of skating together, but they were too young to even experience puppy love. That time just made their partnership more awkward. The two barely said two words to each other during that time, but after they "broke up" their relationship developed more naturally.

* * *

Gabriella lowered herself into the bathtub as she struggled with the pain in her shins. She tried to massage her shin to get rid of the pain, but it didn't work. The pain had started a few months ago, but that was also the time they had increased their training schedule, so she merely blamed it on that.

Though, lately the pain had become more intense that it was starting to become a struggle to get through their programs. She didn't dare tell anyone of this pain, not her family, her coach, not even Troy.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So school starts back up tomorrow and I have final exams coming up so i'm not sure how much I will be able to update but I'll try. I want to thank those who have reviewed every chapter, you guys are the reason I want to keep writing, so thank you. **

Troy Bolton knew a lot of things about Gabriella. He knew she was obsessed with shopping and chocolate. He knew that she wore this little heart shaped locket he had given her for her birthday a few years ago, almost every day. He knew she loved dogs and the little SPCA ads made her so sad that she almost started to cry. He knew that she had to always wear a safety pin in her costume for every performance as part of her superstitions, one that Troy had also adopted, and that her skate guards had to be lined up at a certain angle when they were placed on the boards. He knew that when she was little, he hands got cold quick, so she had always worn these huge mitts on her hands. But what Troy didn't know was how much pain Gabriella was in.

Gabriella took a deep inhale and braced herself to go onto the ice, for practice. Her shins had been hurting for a while now, but she had convinced herself it was because of the amount of training they were doing, which had been partially true. The compulsory dances were so much about being on your edges and keeping your knees bent, that Gabriella blamed her shin pain on that.

The two had been working on their lifts with acrobats that Elena had brought in to help raise their degree of difficulty. One day Elena came in with a ballet magazine in hand. She showed the two a picture of a ballerina, arms spread and balanced on one knee on the back of her partner, who was in a squat position.

"What?" Gabriella said, thinking the old Russian woman was a little batty. "There's no way," Troy reasoned.

Sure, enough she convinced the two to do the lift. The two had practiced on mats before attempting to try it on the ice. It took a while for them to get their balance right that Gabriella would stay perfectly balanced on his leg. When it came to actually doing their lift on ice, Gabriella was terrified. She wasn't worried about herself; she was scared of hurting Troy, that her blade might cut his leg.

"Look, I trust you," he said, trying to reassure her that he would be fine. After training for 4 months off ice, he was confident that she would be able to do it.

Carefully she placed her skate in the pocket and hoisted herself up with the help of Troy, as soon as she got up, she came back down.

He turned to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "I know you can do it, so go for it," he said. She nodded. Taking a deep breath, she went back up and held herself up for a few seconds before coming back down.

Troy stood back up and gave Gabriella a huge hug, "See, I told you could do it," he mumbled as he kissed the top of her head.

After seven months of perfecting the lift, which they had humorously named 'The Goose' since it looked like Gabriella was flying on the ice. Troy had begun noticing that after practice, Gabriella would immediately take off her skates.

Troy skated over to where she was sitting and carefully sat down beside her. "Hey you okay?" he asked, concern written all over his face.

Gabriella snapped up, "Um, yeah, just a little sore, that's it," she quickly rattled off. Troy stared at her for a second and then decided to drop the subject.

* * *

The couple had placed first in their first Grand Prix event but in the Grand Prix Final, Troy made a mistake in the twizzle sequence and their performance never recovered. Even with their flawless free dance, their marks still weren't high enough to place. They ended up in fourth place.

Gabriella watched as Troy stared blankly out the plane window, just watching the world pass him by. Gabriella got out of her seat across the aisle from him and sat next to him.

She gently tapped on his shoulder, "Hey," she spoke so quiet it was almost a whisper. He turned to her with a solemn look on his face. "It's my fault, I screwed up, we were doing fine until…." He sighed.

"It's not your fault, they were just that much better than us," she said. "No, we should have beaten them, we're the best, and that's not my ego talking. It's the truth." He sighed.

Gabriella didn't say anything but leaned against his arm, he lifted his arm and wrapped it around her small shoulders. She snuggled into his side and the two just sat there in silence for the rest of the trip home.

* * *

Gabriella got ready in her room before she left to go to the rink for practice again, she was only going to live there for another year and then she was planning and finding her own place. Her twenty year old partner had moved out a year ago and found an apartment near the rink and without him the house didn't feel as much like a home as it used to.

She said goodbye to the couple and headed out to the rink. She went inside and put on her skates. When she went out on to the ice, she skated around, bending her knees to loosen her legs.

Olympics were less than two years away, and they had people commenting on how they were America's best chance at the Olympics or how the fans swore that they were dating. Troy and Gabriella simply took at as a compliment that they were portraying their characters effectively.

Gabriella started to do some twizzles when suddenly her legs started to give out and she fell hard on the ice. She tried to move but the pain was so unbearable so couldn't move.

"GABRIELLA!" she heard a male voice yell and suddenly Troy was kneeling beside her.

Troy had taken Gabriella in his car and drove like a mad man to the hospital. Since they were in Salt Lake City, Troy had been the only one there for Gabriella. He called their parents and informed them of the situation.

He went into her room and saw her sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed. He pulled up a chair beside her bed and gently held her hand. Gabriella's eyes fluttered open at the sense of his touch.

"Hi," her soft voice croaked out. Troy smiled, "Don't scare me like that," he said as he softly stroked her hair.

"Hey, I see your awake, good," the doctor said as she walked in. Gabriella sat up but Troy didn't let go of her hand.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Patel and your Gabriella, correct?" she politely asked. Gabriella nodded. "And I understand, that you two are skaters," she questioned.

"Uh, yeah, we're ice dancers," Gabriella explained.

"This is going to be difficult, but I am going to get right to it. You have what is called Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome. You have over used your muscles. You see the problem is that the tissue around your muscle is so tight that the muscles cannot expand when you exert yourself." Dr. Patel explained. "And because of this, the blood flow is limited and the waste and toxins are stuck there."

Gabriella sat there shocked. "How long have you had this pain?" the doctor asked.

Gabriella sighed, "Umm, a couple of months" she said. Troy looked over her, his face a mixture of confusion and disappointment. "So, what happens next?" Gabriella asked.

"Well your options are you could have surgery which may not work, or you can retire."

**Read and Review  
-Kathryn**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So exams are done, but now I have math and english so there's alot of work in both courses and then there's grad stuff for June. Sorry the chapter is so short and I'm honestly not happy with this chapter i had a really hard time writing it because I've never had surgery or that big of a decision to make. But I felt bad making you guys wait for another chapter.**

"I'll get the surgery!" Gabriella said quickly.

"Brie-"Troy started.

"Gabriella, I think it would be best if you take some time to consider this option, it is a big decision," Dr. Patel advised.

Gabriella's eyes started to flood with tears, and Troy got up and sat next to Gabriella, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"I'll leave you to think," Dr. Patel said. She took her clipboard and quietly left the room. As soon as the door shut Gabriella's body was overcome with sobs.

Troy rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. "So listen, your parents are going to be here tomorrow and then you can talk it over and then decide, this is a big decision, I don't think you should make it by yourself."

She picked at her chipped onyx nails and chewed her bottom lip, "I don't mean to be rude but do you think I could have some time to think by myself." She quietly whispered.

"Brie, are you sure, I'm not sure if I want to leave you alone." He asked.

"I'm just going to get some sleep and by the time I wake up, my parents will be here." She reasoned.

Troy stood for a second and mulled over the idea. "I guess," he said still not a hundred percent sure that he should leave her. Placing a soft kiss on the top of her head, he headed out of the room.

Gabriella lay in the dark hospital room; the only light was the light streaming from underneath the door from the nurses' station. Her head lay on the pillow that was stained from her mascara. As soon as Troy left, she burst into tears. She cried until finally couldn't cry anymore, she just lay there, numb. The clock on the wall hung there ticking as the time passed. The ticking of the clock grew louder. It became louder and louder, Gabriella tried falling asleep but with no avail. Frustrated, she grabbed the box of Kleenex sitting beside the bed and threw it against the wall, knocking down the clock. Finally after an hour she lulled of to sleep.

Maria sat next to Gabriella's bed and David sat at the end of the bed. They sat there quietly talking until Gabriella woke up. Troy texted Maria and said that Elena was on her way there and he was picking up his parents from the airport and then they would be on their way.

Gabriella's eyes fluttered as they adjusted to the bright sun streaming in through the window.

"Hey Sweetheart, how you feeling?" her mother asked.

"Ok, the nurse came in earlier and gave me some pain meds, so my shins don't hurt so bad as they did. But they wipe me out, I just feel tired." Gabriella explained.

Before Gabriella's parents could ask Gabriella more questions, Dr. Patel walked in.

"I don't mean to rush you, but Gabriella, we really need your decision about your shins." she said glancing over Gabriella's chart.

At eighteen years old, Gabriella never thought that she would have to make such a life altering choice. She thought that she would train more, she and Troy would make the Olympic team in two years, she would take online courses in college, she thought that she had her whole life planned out. Now all these plans went down the drain.

"I…..I'm going to get the surgery," she decided after a long pause.

Maria tucked a stray hair behind Gabriella's ear, "Are you sure honey, this is a big decision." She reasoned.

"Mom, the other option is I don't skate at all. I can't do that, I mean the Olympics are in only two years. It's so close Mom, and what about Troy, that's his dream too, I can't do that to him. Ice Dancing is my entire life; I can't just throw it away just like that." Gabriella said.

"All right then," Maria agreed. "I will get a nurse in here to get you prepped." Dr. Patel explained.

"T-t-that soon?" Gabriella stuttered. "Yes, fortunately we have our best surgeon here today and he is able to perform the surgery," the doctor said.

Gabriella nodded in agreement as the doctor left the room. "You sure you want to do this?" Maria asked again. Gabriella nodded again. "Ok then."

Gabriella took a deep breath as the nurses wheeled her bed towards the OR Room. She fiddled with her hands as the shook violently.

"HEY WAIT!" she heard a male voice yell. She propped herself up and looked behind her to see Troy running towards her.

Troy sprinted to her side and grabbed her hand, "I just wanted to say good luck before you had your surgery." He said panting, trying to get air back into his lungs.

"Thank you," she quietly whispered. He took her hand that was currently in his and placed a soft kiss on the top of it. "See you later," he said.

**So I need some suggestions, I need a place for the Olympics and I'm not sure where it should be, so message me with suggestions. Thanks for reading and review!  
-Kathryn**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry it's so short but I'm really busy, but I wanted to get a chapter out for you guys, because you guys are truly the best (Cheesy huh?). Any hoo, I'm so busy with grad stuff and I have committee work almost every day so I have yet to have an actual lunch. And I really should be working on my Death of a Salesman essay but I just don't feel like doing it right now (Anybody want to do it for me, haha just kidding) but anyway enough rambling, enjoy!**

_2 Months Later_

Gabriella sat curled up on the chair beside the window. She watched as the world went by her front facing room. Fluffy pink slippers sat on her feet to match the rest of her clothing. She wore purple sweatpants and an oversized black sweatshirt that had holes in it and stains from bleach.

"Honey, why don't you go hang out with your friends, get out of the house? I know Roxanne and Jesse are in town. I'm sure they would love to do something with you." Her mother asked as she walked into her daughter's room, setting down the fresh laundry on her dresser.

"I don't want to," she answered monotone. Her attention went from the kids riding their bikes up and down the street to the navy chipped polish on her fingernails.

"Alright," her mother answered. She stood in the doorway for a second and then finally left the room.

Her recovery had been going fairly smooth. The doctors said she was progressing nicely, but it wasn't going fast enough for her liking. She missed the cool air and the feeling she got as she glided over the ice, feeling as though she was flying.

She left her sightseeing spot and went over to her bed. She picked up her phone and went to her contacts scrolling to the familiar number. Her finger hovered over the call button, but ultimately she hit end and threw her phone to the bedside table.

In any situation the first person she would call would be Troy. If she had a bad day, he'd be the first call, if she had a good day, he'd be the first call. But this wasn't just any other day. She knew that he was in Salt Lake City, training still and she was back in Albuquerque. She didn't want to phone him up and be like 'Hey, I know you're probably busy but can I just unload all of my problems on you?' She couldn't do that.

Troy gulped down the blue Powerade and wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked over to his bag and debated whether or not he should call Gabriella. But every time he went to go call her, something stopped him. He didn't know what to say, he knew that she wanted to be right beside him, skating. He didn't want to tell her all about the training, he felt as if he was just rubbing it in her face.

The last three months hadn't been that great. Without Gabriella, his partner was a hockey stick and a bag of sand, that he had affectionately named Betty and Karen.

"Troy! Back to work," Elena barked.

Troy threw the bottle back into his bag and returned to the middle of the ice.

* * *

Gabriella sighed as she flipped through the clothing racks in the middle of the department store. Her mom had finally convinced her to leave the house and go and hang out with her friends.

"So I was thinking we should go to the Steak House, we could have that Chinese food you like and then go see a movie or something." Roxanne asked.

"I guess," Gabriella replied. Roxanne and Jesse awkwardly went to the counter to pay for their items, with Gabriella following behind them, silently.

* * *

Gabriella tied up her pristine white skates as tight as she could so her ankles were secure. She stood up and bounced on her heels to loosen up her legs. After having dinner with her friends, she had claimed she had a headache and that she was going to drive herself home, but she went to the ice rink instead. That way she wouldn't have to worry her mother, because she thought Gabriella was still with her friends.

Gently, she placed her skate on the smooth ice. The rink was putting on public skating, but there weren't many people there due to a hockey tournament in the other rink. She slowly skated around the rink, her legs really stiff and she was definitely feeling the after effects of her surgery. But what returned was not the pain but that passion for skating. Sure, she loved skating, but it was a lot different from when she was a little girl. As she skated around she could feel the cool breeze flowing through her long locks. The next few days Gabriella would sneak out before anybody was awake in her house and skate for an hour or so. Gradually, day by day, she built up strength in her leg.

* * *

It was the beginning of December when Gabriella finally returned to the ice. It was decided, or rather Gabriella decided, that the two would train in Albuquerque for a few weeks before returning to Salt Lake City to save Gabriella from the embarrassment she would feel training all over again.

Gabriella pulled her little blue car into a parking space in front of the rink. She picked up her skating bag from the backseat and headed towards the door. There wasn't much traffic, so Gabriella ended up being the first one to arrive at the ice. Gabriella stood in the player's box, just staring at the white sheet in front of her. The rink was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Gabriella snapped out of her daze when she heard the heavy door to the rink open. She whipped around to see her sandy brown haired, blue eyed partner standing there.

The two stood in silence for a minute, before Troy made his way over to the box where she stood.

"..Hi," Troy said.

"Hi," Gabriella said as she looked at her feet. Gabriella shuffled her feet as she stared at them and Troy spun the ring that sat on his right hand.

"So how are you?" Gabriella asked nervously.

"G-Good," he got out.

"That's… that's good," she replied.

"Yeah…." He trailed.

Before they could have anymore awkward conversation, Elena burst through the door with a flourish.

"Gabriella, sweetheart, how I've missed you," Elena spoke in her heavy accent, pulling Gabriella into a tight hug.

"All right, enough hugging and let's get to the skating," Elena ordered. The pair laced up their skates and stepped out onto the ice. Gabriella could skate pretty well, she didn't look like Bambi or anything, but she was still pretty rusty.

When Elena ordered the two to skate together, it was tense and awkward. Looking at the two of them you could clearly see it. No longer were they the pair that could communicate through looks and simply squeezes of the hand. The relationship that the two of them had built was destroyed in a matter of a few months.

The next couple of weeks Gabriella had built up her legs again and was skating more like herself before the surgery but not quite to the level she was at before. What had not repaired was Troy and Gabriella. No matter how much time they had spent together, the relationship was not what it used to be. It was like they were the two little kids they used to be again.

"Come in!" Elena shouted to the pair that was on the ice. "Now don't think I haven't noticed the two of you. You two used to be so close, what happened?" She looked as the pair just shrugged. " Now what I have decided is that the two of you will be attending marriage counselling together."

**Read and Review  
-Kathryn**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So here is another chapter for you guys since you are all so patient with me, I may not be able to update soon, because my grandpa is in the hospital and is not doing very well. Um, anyway which do you guys prefer when I describe their skate or if I only describe the beginning and the end. All of the programs are real one that Scott and Tessa have preformed. It was a hard to describe Gabriella's costume, so I'll put a link to the real one in my profile  
. just scroll down a little bit and you will be able to see it, anyway, enjoy!**

Gabriella sat on the cushy red coach, wringing her hands. She looked over to her left side to see Troy. After some arguing with Elena that they weren't a married, they weren't even a couple, it was no use, and Elena's word was final. The marriage counsellor had dark chestnut hair that was graying near her ears and she looked as if she was in her mid-forties. Gabriella watched as she jotted down some notes on the memo pad she had sitting on her lap.

"Gabriella, could you tell me what changed in your and Troy's relationship?" the woman asked.

"Um, I guess," Gabriella swallowed. "I guess I feel like I can't talk to him anymore. I mean before my surgery, I could talk to him about anything. "

"Why, do you think that is?" the counsellor asked.

"I think that we just kind of grew apart over time," Gabriella answered.

"Troy, do you think what Gabriella is saying is true?" the woman directed to the young man sitting beside Gabriella.

"…Yeah, I think so, we used to be able to talk to anything, now we can't even say a proper hello," Troy explained.

"You both talk of growing apart in the time you spent separated. Why didn't you call or talk to one and another?" the woman asked.

"Well, I didn't want to rub in the fact that I was going to skate every day and she was at home, not allowed to. " Troy explained.

"You didn't need to do that," Gabriella said. Troy just shrugged in response.

"What about you Gabriella?" the counsellor asked.

"I knew that I could talk to him, but I didn't feel like it was fair to him to just dump all my problems on him," Gabriella responded.

"Brie, you know you can talk to me about anything," he explained.

"I just thought I was being nice, you know, being fair to you." Gabriella said.

Troy and Gabriella attended marriage counselling for a few more weeks and slowly their relationship repaired itself. Over time they were able to talk more and more and they began to feel more comfortable around each other.

It took a while for Gabriella to learn all the new routines, and Troy had to adjust to skating with a partner again, since he had learned all of them alone. Gabriella also started working with Amelia Henderson, a physiotherapist to athletes. It was tough but Gabriella worked herself back to what seemed to be her normal self.

* * *

Gabriella took a deep breath and exhaled, it was her first major competition. Her costume, quite different then what she normally would compete in, the bottom a purplely pink, that was shredded at the bottom. The top looked as if her entire back, stomach and collarbone were exposed when really it was covered in a skin coloured material. A flowery leaf design covered her chest, which was yellow with hints of green in the middle.

She put on her left skate on her foot before her right like she had done so many other times. It was another superstition that she had. Her stomach had terrible knots in her stomach that were physically making her sick. Instead of focusing on what was about to happen she focused on her breathing trying to make it regular.

"Hey, you all right?" Troy asked as he sat next to her.

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," she replied.

"Hey, you're going to do great, all right, don't psyche yourself out." He soothed her.

A man in a dark black jacket came to the pair and told them that it was time to take the ice.

She skated around the rink, getting a feel for the ice. The two started of the program back to back and then the sounds of Pink Floyd carried through the speakers. After a series of intricate lifts and spins the two ended the skate by going on their knees and bringing their hands back to touch their skates. The two stood up and Troy grabbed Gabriella's hands.

"You did amazing Brie, I'm so proud as you," Troy exclaimed as he brought Gabriella into a hug. The crowd in the stands went wild as they stood to their feet clapping with excitement. The two took their bows and then Troy wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Gabriella wrapped her arm around his waist and the two made their ways off the ice. Gabriella bent down to put her skate guards on and she felt Troy's hand on her back. He removed his hand and put his skate guards on his own skates. They went to the kiss and cry area with Elena as they waited for their marks. Gabriella loosened her skates to help alleviate some of the pain she was feeling. She rubbed her shin to get feeling back in her leg, ever since the surgery, she had begun to feel some numbness in her legs. She said to Elena she needed some water, and Troy offered her his water bottle, but Elena went and grabbed her one. Their marks, 197.77, were enough to take home the gold medal.

* * *

Gabriella and Troy stayed at the Parker hotel while they were in Cleveland. They would have had to leave that night but the next day was the skating exhibition. Their exhibition program was simple, they had decided to do Jack and Diane. It was about teenage love and they were characters that Troy and Gabriella loved. Everybody questioned Gabriella's outfit, considering it consisted of jeans and a button-up shirt that was tied up exposing her midriff. Nobody could really believe that she was going to wear jeans. Troy wore a simple white t-shirt with jeans.

As the few guitar strings played, Gabriella jumped into Troy's arms. Their noses brushed as he set her back down. They skated around and Troy pulled her up into an intricate lift. They spun each other around and Troy lifted Gabriella and set her on his bended knees as he skated. The two completed a set of twizzles and then skated back into each other's arms. Troy dipped Gabriella over his leg and then let his arms rise, as he balanced her there. Spinning around holding each other, both had a leg in a camel spin. They created different levels as Troy lowered himself closer to the ice. Troy held on to her waist and leg as she brought her leg up in an I-spin. The two danced around the ice and then Gabriella was put into another lift around Troy's shoulders. Troy spun her into his arms as they finished their skate. The two of them bowed as they received a standing ovation and then they left the ice.

**Read and Review  
-Kathryn**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Congrats to Zanessafan19 for correctly guessing the name of the song which was Famous by Big Time Rush, (love them!), her character will be Molly. Sorry I can't update as much right now because I'm writing diploma exams but I only have my math one left. so hopefully after next week I will be able to update more until the end of August when I go off to college. So until now enjoy! **

It had been an ordinary day in August when Troy and Gabriella received some news from Elena. In the next week she was going to start training with another ice dancepair around the same age. Molly and Jordan were an up and coming team and were making waves within the skating world. They had placed in all their recent competitions and were searching for a coach to take them to the next level.

"So what do you think of this?" Troy asked as he and Gabriella laced up their skates.

"Um, I guess it's good, I mean it kinda sucks that we have to share Elena, but maybe it'll help that they're training here, you know. It might push us more. It's not as great to come in first every time, unless you know that you're the best that you've come ahead of some amazing teams." Gabriella explained.

"When you put it that way, I guess it'll be okay." Troy said.

"So how about you Mr. Soon to be twenty –one. Any big plans?" she inquired.

"I don't know, between training and competition I can't really do anything crazy like a trip to Vegas." Troy said.

"I get what you mean, as much as I love skating it kinda takes over your life." Gabriella sighed. "But I wouldn't change it for the world.

"Yeah," he spoke softly as he took her hand. Gabriella felt flutters in her stomach for the first time and it was something totally brand new.

* * *

Gabriella came out of her bedroom towelling off her hair. She sat in her favourite pink sweats and an oversized black t-shirt. She turned on the television to watch some shows for the evening. It was kind of cool living in her own place. The nineteen year old had found herself an apartment in Salt Lake City and decided to live by herself. With Troy moved out, Gabriella felt no reason to stay in her billet house anymore.

She lay on her couch, the television flickering in the dark, she felt herself dozing off. Her impending sleep was rudely interrupted by the blaring noise of cell phone.

"Hello?" she asked groggily.

"Gabriella!" a male voiced shouted.

Gabriella wiped her eyes and sat up, reaching over to turn on the lamp on the end table. "Troy, what do you want it's…three in the morning?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"Heyyyyyyyy, what's up," he slurred on the other end.

"Troy… are you drunk?" she asked.

"Nooooo…" he giggled. That's right he giggled, Gabriella didn't even think that was possible.

"Troy, where are you?" she worriedly asked.

"Um, there's brown walls and green carpet and a really long hallway, and a big white door." He explained.

"Troy are you outside the apartment?" she asked.

"….I do not know." He answered.

Gabriella walked to her front door, she looked through the peephole and didn't see anything. Curiosity getting the better off her, she opened the door, sending Troy falling backwards into the apartment rather than leaning on the door that was giving him support.

"Troy!" he raised her voice. She tried to pull him inside the apartment trying the best that she could. "Troy get in here before you wake up the neighbours!" she whispered.

Troy drunkenly stumbled into the apartment and flopped on the couch. She made her way to the bathroom, getting an aspirin out of the medicine cabinet. Getting a glass of water from the kitchen, she set the pill and the glass on the end table.

"Here, take that it'll help the headache that is bound to come." Troy sat up, taking the glass and swallowed the aspirin and closed his eyes and sighed.

"Psst, Gabriella I have a secret to tell you," he mock whispered.

"Troy, not now, can't it wait until the morning you need to sleep." She sighed.

"No, it can't I need to get it off my chest." He argued. Sighing she said next to Troy and he pulled her close and pushed back the hair that cascaded over her ear. "I love you," he whispered.

"Yes, Troy I love you too," she said trying to get him to lie down on the couch.

"No! You don't get it I **love** you, I have for a while. And when you went out with Todd, it killed me, Gabriella it killed me. Do you know how much I wanted to be in his shoes, all this time, how did you not know! This entire time I've wanted to be with you, not just whatever we are but to have an actual relationship with you. Do you know how hard it is to skate with you every day and holding you close and not being able to do anything about it. You know what, whatever, just forget everything I said, okay, just forget about it."

He stood up and headed towards the door but Gabriella got up and grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards the couch.

"Troy, don't be stupid, you're still drunk, I don't want anything to happen to you. Just…sleep it off on the couch." She reasoned.

Troy lay down on the couch and closed his eyes and rolled onto his side facing the inside of the couch. Gabriella turned off the lamp on the table and made her way to the hallway to her bedroom.

"Goodnight Troy," she whispered receiving nothing but soft snores.

**Read and Review  
-Kathryn **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for not updating all summer, I just didn't feel like writing. I've had start of this chapter written for so long, but just didn't quite know how to finish it. I'm still not exactly satisfied with it but whatever. So now I'm officially a college student, so I don't know when I'll be updating, so I can't make any promises on when I'm going to update. Sorry. But anyway Enjoy!**

_Tick Tock, Tick Tock_

Gabriella stared at the clock as time passed. She lay in bed as the morning sun peeked through her blinds and sprayed out across her off white carpet. After Troy's big declaration, Gabriella found it hard to fall back asleep. She had fallen asleep off and on all night, and she felt wide awake. She rolled over to her side to look at her alarm clock. The bright red neon numbers revealed it to be five twenty three in the morning. Deciding that there was no chance of her falling back asleep, she pulled back the covers and got out of bed. She opened the blinds allowing the faint light into her room. She threw on a pair of black leggings and white tank top. She pulled on her dark purple lulu lemon sweater and fastened her hair into a high pony tail. Quietly she crept out into her living room to find Troy still sleeping on her couch. She grabbed her purse and went soundly out the door. She decided on stopping in the nearest Starbucks to grab a quick caffeine fix. Yawning, Gabriella sat in her car in the parking lot slowly sipping her hot coffee. Once she finished she pulled out of the lot and went on her way.

The rink was dark and quiet as she made her way in. The rink was closed, but being a gold medalist and an Olympic hopeful had its perks. Placing her bag in the player's box, she pulled out her skates and proceeded to put them on. Grabbing her iPod from the front pocket of her bag, she headed out onto the ice. Pressing play, the soft sounds of her music filled her ears. Slowly making her way around the rink, her mind went a mile a minute, trying to process what Troy had said only a few hours ago. For the longest time her relationship with Troy was hard to explain. When they hit the ice together, they portrayed characters, characters that were so in love and couldn't get enough of each other. Off ice, they were close but not necessarily romantic, although they were much closer than a best friend, brother-sister type of relationship. Every interview they had, the first question out of the interviewer's mouth, was if they were dating. They'd flirt but deny that they had any romantic feelings for each other. But now that had changed, Troy had boldly admitted his feelings towards Gabriella, and Gabriella didn't know how she felt about him. He had always been her best friend, and of course she thought superficial things about him, like how attractive he had become, but she wasn't sure if she liked him that way.

Snapping out of her reverie, she turned around to face an embarrassed girl standing in the player's box.

"Sorry, I didn't realize anyone was here, I'll just leave," the girl said.

"No it's fine, stay, I really should get outta here, I have a lot to do today," Gabriella explained.

"Hey, you're Gabriella Montez, right?" the girl asked. Gabriella just nodded at her question. "I recognize you from the magazine, you and Troy make a cute couple." The girl admitted.

Gabriella's face flushed into a shade of pink, "um, thanks, I guess. So you know who I am, who are you?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh, sorry, my name's Molly," the girl introduced.

"Oh...Oh! You're the one half of the couple that's training with Elena right?" Gabriella asked, suddenly realizing who she was.

"Yeah, from the sounds of it, she's the best," Molly said.

"Yeah, she is. Listen you don't have to leave, I mean there's plenty of room for both of us to skate." Gabriella reasoned.

"Sounds good." Molly replied.

The two stood in silence and awkwardly didn't know what to say to each other.

"Hey, you know it's too quiet in here, how about some music. Molly made her way to the scorekeeper's box. Messing around with the sound system in there, she hooked up her iPod to the stereo.

Suddenly the once quiet room, was filled with the sounds of Big Time Rush. Gabriella laughed at the music choice.

"You like Big Time Rush too? Troy makes fun of me for liking it, but hey it's four cute guys singing some pretty catchy songs." Gabriella giggled.

"Right?" Molly agreed.

* * *

The two whizzed around the rink, not necessarily practicing, just messing around. The two had found out each other's likes and dislikes. Gabriella found it nice to have a female to talk to her that wasn't ordering her around.

Molly and Gabriella skated side by side, when Molly asked an interesting question.

"Well pardon me if this question is too forward, but what's the deal with you and Troy? I mean are you guys together or something?" she asked.

Gabriella sighed not really sure what the answer to that question. "Too be honest I have no idea," Gabriella said stopping by the boards and hopping up onto them.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked.

"Forget it, I don't want to unload all my problems onto you," Gabriella sighed.

Molly stopped skating and hopped up onto the boards next to Gabriella. "Hey, it's okay, I mean I asked. It's okay if you tell me," Molly said softly.

Gabriella looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath. "Okay, so I really don't know what exactly we are, we aren't together but we're closer than friends and for the longest time I've been okay with that. But last night, Troy shows up at my door, proclaiming his love for me and I just feel like the rug's been pulled out from under me." Gabriella shook her head.

"Wow…" Molly breathed.

"Yeah, pretty much my reaction." Gabriella revealed.

"So what did you say to him?" Molly asked.

"Um, I didn't say anything, I just left him there to sleep on the couch, which is probably where he still is, considering how much he drank last night." Gabriella explained.

"I wish I could help you out with your problem, but I honestly have no idea even what I would do in that situation," Molly explained.

"Haha, it's alright," Gabriella smiled. She glanced at the scoreboard above and noticed that it was around ten o'clock. "Well I really should get going, see how Troy is doing,"

"See you," Molly waved goodbye.

* * *

Gabriella slowly pulled her car into her parking stall and got out. She dragged her feet to the elevator and waited for it to reach her floor. It seemed as if the ride only lasted a few seconds and before she knew it she was standing in front of her apartment door.

Opening the door, she threw her keys on the table beside the door and made her way to the living room. The once occupied couch now sat empty with blankets strewn across. The bathroom door opened answering her question to why the couch was empty. Troy shuffled his feet towards the couch and collapsed on it in a heap.

"Wow, you look rough," Gabriella observed.

Troy shoved his face into a throw pillow, "I feel like ass," he mumbled.

"Way to go," Gabriella chuckled. Her grin fell off as she remembered Troy's late night confession. "So do you remember anything that happened last night?" She asked.

"Um I remember Chad taking me out to some bar, a lot of shots, and then the rest is a little fuzzy," he muttered. Gabriella slightly chuckled at the thought of Chad, a hockey player who Troy met at the rink, talking Troy, the most responsible guy on the planet, into doing shots.

"Why, what did I say last night?" Troy frantically asked. "Please tell me I wasn't too embarrassing."

"Um… nothing really, just a bunch of nonsense," Gabriella lied.

Troy stared at her for a few seconds, debating on whether or not to believe her, but eventually nodding at her, "Alright, well I should go back to my place, sorry for crashing so late." He apologized.

Gabriella shook her head, "Forget about it, I'm glad you came here. It's nice to know that I'm like your safe place, I guess." She admitted.

"Of course, you're my best friend. Well I should get going, see you later," Troy hugged Gabriella, grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

Gabriella walked over to her couch and folded the throw blanket that lay over the couch. She lay back on the couch rubbing her temples as she felt a headache come over her.

**Read and Review  
-Kathryn **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I am so, so sorry. I have been extremely busy with assignments and practicum. My course load is ten weeks of material crammed into about five. So I've been working on projects and assignments, but right now is a new term so it's kinda calm. College is stressful! Haha. Once again I am truly sorry for how long I made you guys wait. And I want to thank those of you who stuck around, it means a lot. Well enjoy!**

Gabriella felt Troy place his hand on her waist as they both took off around the rink.

"Gabriella! Where is your head!" Elena shouted.

Gabriella shook her head, "Sorry," she apologized.

Elena watched as the pair skated, but instead of the picture of perfection it just seemed awkward. Troy looked fine, but Gabriella looked as shy as her first day in a pair of skates. Elena rubbed her temples and sighed, "Let's call it a day," she said.

The two packed up their bags as Ashley Davola walked in, or rather tried to strut in. Though her idea of strutting was something less than desirable and just looked weird with her trying to jut her hips out. Ashley was in training with Elena as a female singles skater, although she couldn't skate to save her life. She thought that she was the best and had her daddy buy anything to please her. She was the meanest girl to walk the face of the Earth, but unfortunately she was a pretty good actress when it came to Troy, who she constantly tried to flirt with. Ashley walked up to Troy purposely shoving Gabriella out of the way.

"Hi Troy," she said in a sugary sweet voice. Gabriella rolled her eyes and continued to pack up her bag. Ashley trailed her finger up and down Troy's chest, Gabriella gagged. Since when had her voice become so nasally?

"So, I was thinking, I heard about championships coming up and we are both a shoo-in for the Olympic team. We should celebrate early with some drinks." Ashley asked. Gabriella's fingers twitched at the thought of Ashley going out with Troy. It took all her restraint not to clock her in her plastic face. It confused her, Troy had gone out with plenty of girls and it hadn't bothered her before. Suddenly the idea of Troy going out with Ashley had left her feeling queasy. She told herself she was just trying to protect him from the Barbie.

"Uh, you know what I think I'll take a rain check on that," Troy answered.

Ashley seemed stunned for a moment and then brushed past the two of them towards the ice. Troy looked over to Gabriella chuckling in disbelief.

"Can you believe her?" he said laughing to himself. Gabriella shook her head as the nausea in her stomach slowly left. "Yeah…" she breathed out.

"So are you ready?" Troy asked, "Only two more months till Nationals. Then hopefully the Olympics."

"Yeah, it's crazy. To think where we started, just a couple of shy kids forced to skate together." She laughed. The two picked up their bags and made their ways to their respective cars. Before Gabriella could open the door to her car, Troy had stopped her.

"Hey, I'm proud of you," he said sincerely. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.

Gabriella breathed in his scent, a mixture of his cologne and aftershave. She closed her eyes as her stomach fluttered with butterflies. Slowly he released her and the two parted.

* * *

Gabriella snuggled up to the fleece blanket on her couch. She sighed as her phone rang. Groaning she got up off the couch and made her way to the kitchen counter where she had left her phone.

"Hello?" she picked up the phone.

"Hi," her mother chirped on the other end.

"Yes, what do you want?" Gabriella groaned.

"What I can't just call me daughter and see how she is?" Maria faked a gasp.

"Oh, sorry. Mom what a surprise! How are you?" Gabriella said sarcastically.

"Much better. I'm fine, I just wanted to check and see how you are." Her mother asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." Gabriella replied.

"What's wrong?" Maria questioned.

"What, nothing's wrong." Gabriella answered.

"Gabriella, your my daughter, it's my job to know when something is wrong with you." Maria said.

Gabriella sighed as she stared at the television screen. "Gabriella?"

"What?" Gabriella replied.

"What are you doing?" her mom asked.

"Watching _Funny Face._" She answered.

"Again, Gabriella tell me, what's wrong?" said Maria.

"I don't know, I'm just…confused I guess," Gabriella sighed.

"About what?" her mother questioned.

"…just… I don't know. If I tell you won't get all excited and go crazy on me or anything like that?" Gabriella asked.

"Promise," Maria replied.

"The other week, Troy showed up at my door in the middle of the night. And he did this whole confession about how much he loved me and I don't know. I thought I didn't feel the same way…but now I'm not so sure about that." Gabriella explained.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"Well, every time he kisses my head or cheek I get butterflies and the other day Ashley Davola asked him out and the only thing I wanted to do was punch her in the face." Gabriella explained.

"Ah, I see," Maria murmured.

Gabriella sighed and fell back onto the couch; she closed her eyes and blew out a long breath. "What do I do, Mom?"

"…My advice would be…follow your heart. Ignore what your head is telling you and follow your heart," Maria advised. "Ok," Gabriella sighed.

"Alright, well I have to go now, ok? Stay safe honey, and think about what I said." Her mother wished her well and hung up the phone.

Gabriella brought the fleece blanket up near her face and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Gabriella put the final bobby pin in her hair securing the red rose on the side of her bun. Her costume consisted of a black lace bodice that sparkled and flowed into a full red satiny skirt. She attached a small safety pin to the strap on her shoulder. In the mirror she saw Troy walk through the doorway.

"You ready?" he softly asked.

Gabriella lifted her hand and made sure the pins were secure. She dropped her hands and nodded. The two walked through the corridor hand in hand towards the ice. The pair skated around the ice before Troy slowly let go of her hand to take their places on the ice. He gently placed his hand on her waist and she let her head rest on his shoulder.

The music started and Gabriella raised her arms and moved her hips to the flamenco beat. Troy placed his hands on her hips as they moved. Grabbing his hands she tossed them away. He grabbed her waist and skated with her as he spun her around the ice. Gabriella flapped her skirt in time with the beat. He released her as they entered the twizzle section of the routine. The two were in sync as they finished them with a flourish. He took her hand and led her around, spinning her and lifting her as he did so. He let go and the two spun beside one another, clapping to the beat. She turned around and put her hand between her legs and Troy grabbed them and flipped her over and finished by holding her one leg with his hand as she was upside down. She flipped back to her feet and he spun her once more and then pulled her close. They pulled away and Troy lifted his leg and dipped Gabriella over it. He grabbed her from behind and the two swayed with the music. They released each other and skated backwards and clapped. Gabriella jumped in the air, spinning as she did so, Troy caught her and she went to a kneeling position as both of them pumped their fists into the air.

The crowd stood to their feet as Gabriella stood to her feet and Troy took her into a hug and lifted her off the ice. "You did awesome," he said as the crowd cheered. He released her and the two took their bows. They skated to the boards to meet Elena. Gabriella gave her a big hug and Troy kissed her cheek. The three of them made their way to the kiss and cry area as the station recapped their performance. Gabriella sat in the middle as Troy put his arm around her and pulled her close, in return Gabriella patted his leg. Noticing he didn't have a water bottle she offered hers. He let go of her shoulders and took a big sip and then capped the water bottle. He placed the bottle beside his feet. The pair was breathing heavy as they waited for their scores. The screen in front of them told them they had earned 70.15, placing them first in the standings. The two looked at one another and chuckled as they looked away. Troy grabbed Gabriella's hands that were resting in her lap. He helped her up and then the two waved and blew kisses to the crowd. The two were then interrupted by the reporters and they stepped to the side to answer questions.

"Representing Team USA in ice dance, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez!" the loud announcer's voice boomed over the P.A. system. Gabriella and Troy skated out as they held hands and waved to the crowd. They took their place next to Molly and Jordan, who had come in second, but also made the Olympic team. Gabriella looked over to Molly and saw her blue eyes sparkle. Jordan stood beside her and held her hands. Gabriella and Troy had won their third consecutive championship and were on their way to the Olympics. Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella's waist and spoke into her ear.

"We did it, we're going to the Olympics." He said. Gabriella felt like this was all a dream and at any moment her alarm clock was going to wake her from this amazing moment. Her eyes spotted her parents, her eyes became misty as she watched her mother hug Troy's. She felt Troy place his lips on the side of her head. She tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach and just convinced herself that they were just nerves.

**Hope that made up for the long wait! Read and Review!  
**-**Kathryn**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. I had my cousin's grad, my convocation, my cousin's wedding and rodeo happening. Then I took a job as a carpenter's assistant, so when I come home, I'm exhausted. But now that's done so hopefully I'll be able to put out the next chapter soon. Sorry this is so short but I didn't want everything in this chapter. Enjoy!**

Gabriella showed her badge around her neck to the security as he let her and Troy into the Olympic Village. As much as she loved seeing the World, she was kind of glad the Olympics were held in Vancouver. This meant some of her family would be able to come see her more easily. Her parents and her aunt and uncle had joined her on the trip and were staying in hotel close by. She said goodbye and wheeled her blue suitcase into the elevator as she made her way up to her room. Swiping her room key, she opened the door to reveal her room. Her roommate for the time being had already been there, judging from the pink suitcase full of clothing, the pink blanket on the bed and a pink sparkly skate bag by the end of one of the beds.

Gabriella walked over to the unoccupied bed and placed her suitcase, and bag on top of it. She sat down and looked over towards the bed. She glanced over to the nightstand next to it and noticed a framed picture sitting there. It was a picture of who she assumed she was rooming with and an older woman. The two held each other in a tight embrace; the younger girl had long, very light blonde hair. The older woman, who Gabriella assumed was her mother, was just an older version of the younger girl. The sound of a door opening snapped Gabriella out of her gaze.

"You must be Gabriella?" a female voice asked. Gabriella turned around to see the girl in the picture. She matched her belongings in a pair of very pink jeans and a white top. Her long blonde hair flowed into loose waves and her bangs were pinned back with a pink pin. Gabriella stood up and walked over to her and held out her hand to shake.

"Yeah, I'm Gabriella Montez, nice to meet you," she said softly.

"Hi, my name is Sharpay Evans, it's nice to meet you also," Sharpay introduced herself, "sorry about the mess, I haven't had much time to do anything, I just got done with practice." Sharpay walked over to her side of the room and began folding the clothes she had left on the floor.

"Hey, it's fine, I mean the bonus of rooming with another skater is they understand your schedule, right?" Gabriella said.

"Good point," Sharpay said as she put the last article clothing into her bright pink suitcase.

"Hey, I don't have practice for another hour, you up to getting a coffee or something downstairs?" Gabriella asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Sharpay agreed.

The two female skaters left the room and headed downstairs to grab some coffee.

The two girls became fast friends quickly bonding over their shared sport and of course, girl stuff.

"I love your shoes, they are so nice. Where did you get them?" Sharpay gushed.

Gabriella glanced down to her royal blue heels, "Oh, I'm not sure, my mom got them for Christmas," Gabriella admitted.

"Sounds like your mom is just as fabulous as you are." Sharpay said.

"Yeah, we're pretty similar, but we have disagreements like any other mother and daughter. How bout' you?" Gabriella asked

"My mom is like my best friend, she's been there for me through everything. She's been the biggest supporter of my career. She's basically like me but older." Sharpay laughed.

"That's awesome," Gabriella said. Gabriella glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed she only had fifteen minutes to get to practice. "Crap, I gotta get to practice," She cursed, "I'll see you later." Sharpay waved as Gabriella flew upstairs to grab her skates.

* * *

"So how's your roommate?" Troy asked as the two laced up their skates.

"Great, actually, she's awesome. How about yours?" Gabriella asked.

"I wouldn't know, I haven't met him, he hasn't shown up. It sounds like he went and got himself his own room." Troy explained.

"Oh, that kind of sucks," Gabriella answered.

"Hey, at least I have my own room for now," Troy replied.

"Yeah, a bonus. My roommate is a total girly girl but she's sweet, so that will be nice." Gabriella explained.

"Oh, god, now there will be two of you," he teased. Gabriella frowned and punched him lightly on the shoulder as he made his way out on to the ice. He chuckled as her fist landed on his arm. "Geez, take it easy slugger." Gabriella rolled her eyes and stepped onto the ice. "You're lucky that's all I did," she taunted back.

"That's it," Troy smiled. He skated over to Gabriella and threw her over his shoulder. Gabriella giggled as she hung onto his shoulder, "Troy! Put me down," she giggled.

"Not until you apologize," he chuckled.

"Never," she said.

"Fine," he smirked. He reached up and tickled her sides. Squirming in his arms, she shrieked and laughed, "Ok, ok, I'm sorry," she said out of breath. He placed her gently back on the ice and pushed back the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and placed it behind her ear. Gabriella felt the familiar queasy feeling in her stomach.

"Alright, let's get to work! We only have two practices before your Olympic debut, and I want you two to be flawless." Elena yelled as she came through the door. The two jumped apart and nodded at their coach.

* * *

Gabriella leaned against hallway to her hotel room. She was breathing heavily and she squeezed her eyes shut. The pain in her shins was getting unbearable. She thought that the surgery would be the fix to this problem, but as the Olympics drew closer, the more pain she felt.

_Just a few more steps, you can do this. You're almost there. Then you can lie down. _Gabriella thought.

"Hey, there you are. Why are you standing out here?" Sharpay's voice interrupted her thoughts. Gabriella looked over to see Sharpay standing at their hotel door.

"Just taking it all in, it's just all so surreal," Gabriella partially lied.

"Well come inside and do it in here. You're looking a little odd," Sharpay laughed. Gabriella nodded and followed her inside.

* * *

Gabriella lay in bed just thinking not able to sleep. She looked at the clock and she saw that she only had a half hour until she had to get up. Not bothering to fall asleep she got up and went to the bathroom and took a shower. She massaged her shins until she was able to stand on them again.

"Alright, you can do this," she quietly whispered to herself as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Suddenly she heard a knock on her door.

**Read and Review**  
**-Kathryn**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I had intended to put this out earlier because my brother is coming down to visit this week, but right in the middle of it my computer overheated and shut down and I lost a good portion of this chapter. So I had to rewrite the last half. ugh. Anyways I saw that fanfiction had a new feature that allows you to put a cover on your stories and I was wondering if any of you would be interested in creating a cover for this story. I will totally give you credit! Enjoy!**

Gabriella grabbed her robe off the hook and the door and quickly put it on. Maybe she woke up Sharpay while she was getting ready. Gabriella opened the door and came face to face with Sharpay. The blonde slipped past Gabriella into the bathroom.

"My Mom died," she said so calmly and quietly that Gabriella wasn't sure if she heard right.

Gabriella partially shut the door behind to see that the officials from Skate America were sitting in her room.

"Gabriella, as you are aware, Sharpay's mother passed away last night. What I want you to do is just to go about your normal routine like you would during this time." The president explained. Gabriella nodded as the team stood up and made their way out of the room.

After the officials left Gabriella got dressed and packed up her skate bag. Quietly she entered the bathroom. She pulled out her make-up and hair brush and begun to get ready. In silence the two girls got ready doing their hair and makeup. Gabriella glanced at Sharpay and noticed she seemed strangly calm. Gabriella placed her compact in her make-up bag on the counter and looked up into the mirror.

Looking up at Sharpay the only words she spoke were, "I am so sorry." And with that she left the room. She grabbed her bag and went out the door.

Gabriella entered the empty elevator and pulled out her phone. Quickly dialling the familiar number she breathed out a shaky breath. "Hi Mom. Um, I was just calling to say that I love you and I'll see you later alright…bye," Gabriella hung up her phone after she left the message. She swallowed the big lump in her throat as her eyes begun to water.

* * *

Gabriella entered the area where the pair worked on their lifts on the mats before they went to the ice. She saw Troy on his knee, tying up his runners. When he realized Gabriella came in the room he immediately stood up and his face lit up. Quickly his smile faded when he saw the look on Gabriella's face.

"Brie, what's wrong," Troy asked.

Gabriella folded her arms and breathed out. "Um…Shar's mom passed away last night…and all I can think about is how her mom is not gonna be there when she skates."

Troy grabbed Gabriella's shoulder and pulled her into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and she hugged his waist.

"All Shar wanted to do was to make her mom proud. She talked about how her mom was her biggest fan and how she gave up her job to support Shar's skating. Now she's here and when she goes out there, her mom won't be there, at least not physically. I can't even imagine doing this without my mom, and now Shar has to do that." Gabriella spoke into Troy's shoulder.

The pair stood together in silence for a few moments before Gabriella pulled away from Troy's arms.

Gabriella sniffed, "I'm sorry, I got a few tears on your shirt," she apologized.

Troy looked down to see a few darker spots on his grey t-shirt. He shrugged his shoulders, "it's okay," he said.

Gabriella took a deep breath, "Well we should get started, the show must go on right," she said placing a façade on her face.

Troy nodded and the two of them walked to the middle of the mat. Troy leaned down and placed his hand on her shin, preparing to put her in a lift. Gabriella grimaced and Troy immediately set her down.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Gabriella looked at the floor and sighed, "The surgery didn't work as well as I hoped it would. I was stupid; I rushed back to the ice, and didn't let them heal properly. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I thought once the Olympics were over I'd just go back to the doctor and everything would be okay," she admitted.

Troy stared at the wall to the side of them, "I knew it, and I should have said something. I mean, you struggle just walking down the hallway." He said. He walked over to the wall he was staring at before and leaned against. A silence washed over the two. "We're not skating tomorrow," he finally said.

"What, no! Not after we made it this far. I'm not giving up now. We're so close, I can feel it." She cried.

Troy chewed his lip and then took her hand. Gabriella followed him, "What are you doing?"

"We are going to my room and you are calling your physiotherapist, and getting her here as quick as you can." He explained. Gabriella nodded.

* * *

Troy walked over to the bed and sat next to Gabriella as she finished her conversation on the phone. Gabriella set her iPhone on the bedside table and fell back onto the bed .Troy followed suit and laid beside her.

"So what's going on?" he asked turning his head to face her.

"Haley is flying out, hopefully tonight, if she can get a flight. Hopefully it's not too booked up with the Olympics," she sighed.

Gabriella stared at the ceiling as she thought, "Do you think that Shar is going to skate on Wednesday?" she asked.

"I honestly have no idea. I mean…part of being an Olympic athlete is being able to put distractions in the back of your mind. But going through something like that, I don't know how someone can just ignore that." He sighed.

"Yeah, "she breathed. She turned her head to the side and looked at Troy's face.

He looked up and stared at her eyes. Her eyes, he considered were her best feature. Her eyes revealed everything that she was feeling. They were dark chocolate with small flecks of gold you could only see if you were close.

_Just do it, man up and just tell her how you feel _Troy thought.

Gabriella blinked and looked at Troy, "what?" she asked.

He opened his mouth to reply and suddenly the words flew out of his head, "Nothing," he said.

She lightly slapped his chest and let out a laugh. "You're such a dork."

Troy rolled his eyes at her goofiness. It was moments like this that made Troy love Gabriella.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry, I've been so busy at work, we've been short staffed and I've been opening and I was closing before, so either I haven't had time or by the time I come home I'm exhausted and the next thing I know the evenings gone. Hopefully this chapter makes up for the wait, and fingers crossed, I get the next chapter out soon as well. Well enjoy!**

Gabriella sat high in the stands trying to avoid the cameras that surrounded the arena. She didn't want them to catch her puffy eyes as she was pretty emotional that day. Today was the day that Sharpay was skating for the first time since her mother's passing. Gabriella admired her strength, if Gabriella was in that situation, she wouldn't be handling it as well as Sharpay was. Sure, Sharpay was sad, but she came for a reason and she was determined to fulfill that goal for her mom.

Gabriella pulled the sleeves of her team jacket over her hands and she placed them by her chin. She breathed as she watched Sharpay take the ice. The crowd went wild as she skated to the center of the ice. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the base of her neck. Her dress was black with sparkly silver accents on the front. It flowed into a halter and on the back it turned into flesh coloured fabric. On the fabric was a rose design made from rhinestones that covered the expanse of her back. Gabriella swallowed as the crowd fell silent as Sharpay took her place.

Dramatic music flowed through the speakers filling the large centre. She watched as Sharpay flowed across the ice. The crowd clapped along to the music as Sharpay skated. Sharpay came out of her sit spin and placed her hands on her hip. As soon as the music stopped, the crowd roared to their feet. Gabriella let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in.

Sharpay sobbed and spun around waving to the audience. She quickly skated over to the sidelines where her coach was waiting. As soon as she reached there, her coach pulled her into a hug as Sharpay cried. Gabriella wiped the tears that were spilling over, rolling down her cheeks. At this moment she couldn't be more proud of the girl below.

* * *

Gabriella hung up the two dresses she had brought for the Free Dance on the closet door. She stepped back and tried to decide which to wear for the next day. The two were pretty much identical except for the colour. One was a pale pink and the other was a pure white.

Gabriella chewed her lip as she tried to make her decision. She heard the door open and she looked over to see Sharpay come through. She dropped her bag on her bed and made her way to the bathroom to have a shower. Gabriella looked back at the dresses when she heard Sharpay's soft voice.

"You should wear the one the left, you'll look like you're floating across the ice," Sharpay explained. She turned to head to the bathroom.

"Thanks Shar…and you looked amazing today," Gabriella paused, "You're mom would be proud of you,"

Sharpay placed her hand on the doorframe and looked back at Gabriella, "Thank you."

Gabriella nodded and Sharpay went into the bathroom shutting the door behind her. Gabriella sighed and reached for the chiffon dress to put with her skate bag.

* * *

Gabriella coated her lashes in dark black mascara. Her eyes were done up in a dark smoky purple. She placed a bobby pin in her dark locks. Her brunette hair was placed into a chignon near the middle of her head. She checked over her appearance once more in the mirror before she left the dressing room. Walking down the hallway she spotted Troy.

Troy smiled as he saw her walking towards him. "You look amazing," he said as he brought her into a hug. The pair just stood in the hall for what seemed like forever just wrapped in each other's arms.

"You nervous," he whispered in her hair. Gabriella laid her head against his chest. "Terrified, but in a good way…if that makes any sense," she laughed.

Troy nodded, "yeah, it makes sense, at least to me it does," he chuckled. Gabriella pulled away from his arms and he immediately wanted to pull her back close. "I guess we should head down to the madness," she smiled.

The two started to walk towards the ice; Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand and laced it with his fingers. Gabriella glanced down at the action that Troy had done subconsciously. Gabriella went to bite her lip and realized she had lip gloss coated on them.

Entering the arena, the pair could feel the energy rise. The crowd roared and cheered. Various banners and signs were scattered throughout. Skating officials ran around in a frenzy trying to keep everything organized and on schedule. Gabriella stretched up to see if she could see their coach; Troy found her first and tugged on Gabriella's hand to follow him.

"Oh, my goodness, Gabriella. You look amazing, very beautiful," she complimented. Troy let go of Gabriella's hand as Elena grabbed both of hers instead. She lifted Gabriella's arms and took a good look at her.

"Thank you," Gabriella replied graciously. Gabriella glanced over her shoulder and spotted her family sitting with Troy's family in the stands near the front. She pressed her hand over her lips and blew them a kiss.

Elena reached in her bag and pulled out two safety pins. She first pinned one to Troy's collar of his crisp white shirt and then pinned the other to the hem of Gabriella's dress. Troy took Gabriella's hand and the two took the ice with the rest of their practice group.

Gabriella looked all around her as she skated the perimeter of the ice. She was no longer little girl in the big mitts and constant cold hands. She blinked a few times to make sure that this was all real and she wasn't dreaming. After they had run through the basics a few times the two stepped off the ice and began to stretch more in preparation. An official came and told them they were to get ready to take the ice. Gabriella stood up straight and walked over to Troy. He instantly lifted his arms and pulled her into a hug.

Gabriella ran her hands over his back. Gone were the gawky teenage years and were replaced by muscles built up over the years. He had shaved this morning but already there was a shadow cast across his chin. His eyes, however, were something that hadn't changed over time. They still shone a brilliant bright blue.

The two pulled away from one another and began to get ready to skate. Gabriella smoothed the chiffon skirt of her dress, making sure nothing was ripped or tucked into her tights. They were called over and then they stepped out onto the ice. Gabriella took her skate guards and arranged them on the boards. She shook out her leg to get the blood pumping through leg. She ignored the pain that started to course through her shin. She touched her ears and made sure her earrings were still there. Troy took her hand and the two started to take a lap before starting. The announcer read their names and as they skated by the crowd went wild. People started cheering and clapping, noise makers and cowbells rang out and flags waved patriotically in the stands.

They lifted their arms up to greet the crowd and one of Gabriella's arms slowly lowered onto Troy's shoulder. Troy pulled her closer and quickly rested his forehead on hers. Troy looked at her and then let her hand go as they took their place.

The crowd fell silent and the music began to play.

**Read and Review!  
****Kathryn**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you so much for those who stuck by this story. I know it was a pain in a butt waiting on me and I truly am sorry for that. So here it is the final chapter of this story and then next will be the epilogue.**

In a few short seconds the arena that was full of people screaming and cheering, had fallen silent. Fans clutched their posters and flags. The two stared at one another and smiled. Troy held her hand and wished her luck. Gabriella gazed back into his eyes. People held their breath as the pair skated around the ice before taking their place in the middle.

The pair after the Original dance yesterday, had held the second place position. The score was slightly lower than they had hoped, and they prayed that the Free Dance would push them into first for the gold medal. Gabriella skated to a stop in front of Troy and lifted her arms and then posed them by her side. She took a deep breath as she waited for the music to begin to play. Troy looked over to Gabriella. She looked breathtaking in her costume. He thought she looked beautiful anyways, but her dress just made her look flawless and graceful.

The crowd fell silent as you could almost hear a pin drop. The announcers finished their spiel and the music was turned on. The sounds of string instruments flowed through the speakers and filled the space.

Troy brought his hands over Gabriella's shoulders and Gabriella turned around grabbing his hands. She backed up and he followed her going down to his knees and bringing her hands close to his face. She skated behind him and the two outstretched their arms and she skated back in front, taking his hands once more and bringing him back onto his feet. He spun her around and brought her into his arms. He brought her to his side and they began to skate backwards. He pulled her close again and spun her around lifting her feet of the ice.

They parted for a couple of seconds only to be brought back together. He placed his arms around her waist and they skated backwards. She skated forward and he pulled her back, her facing forward. He turned her around, holding her by the waist. He let her waist go and grabbed her hand, skating backwards as he guided her forward. The placed his hand against her cheek and then spun around, grabbing her hand once more. He placed his hand behind her neck and the other behind her back. She dipped against his hand and then brought herself back up. She turned so she faced him and placed her hand against his back and the two waltz. She spun around so she faced his back and grabbed onto his upper arms. They skated to a stop to face the crowd.

Gabriella couldn't remember the faces she saw in the crowd. The whole experience was a blur for her. Troy brought his arms forward and the hand that was on there followed. He grabbed her hand and twirled her and then brought her close. They skated around the ice as he twirled and twisted her around in his arms. She lift her leg forward and he grabbed it pulling her up and flipping her other leg over his head. As he got a hold on her waist he twisted her up onto his shoulder. He pulled her down into a sitting position and then twisted her back into the front and spun around. After completing the rotational lift he then gently placed her back onto the ice. She parted from him again and then skated back, the two of them going into a sit spin. They finished and went into a camel spin, she grabbed onto the back of his skate and held her other foot with her free hand. The two spun together as he held onto her waist.

They waltzed around the ice and they completed the required twizzles. Their edges were in sync as the skated together. They got close to the boards and Gabriella brought her leg and Troy brought his leg back. He crouched down in a spread eagle position. She placed her blade into the crook where his hip ended and his leg began. She got up on one leg and extended the other behind her. Their hands outstretched to help them balance. He began to stand up and she popped off tumbling forward into his arms.

They spun around and he pulled her into an arabesque. They skated around and he pulled her close dipping her. They separated and did individual spins and then came together for a final sit spin. They got up and he got down on one knee and she fell back and he draped her over his knee holding her close. They brought their extended hands together and brought them close and then looked at one another. His nose grazed hers as he closed his eyes. The two breathed heavy as they close both of their eyes and listened to the music end and the crowd come to life.

"Thank you so much," he said between breaths. She turned her head and placed her lips on his. He froze for a moment before kissing her back. The kiss ended as soon as it began and the two got back up on their feet. He held onto her arms and gazed at her. Small little tendrils came out of the pins and fell near her ears and her cheeks were slightly flushed. She wasn't sure if it was from the dance, the cold, or the kiss but she didn't care. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her head in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent.

The two parted and held onto one another's hands. They took their bows and then they skated back to the boards to go to the kiss and cry area. Troy looked up and saw the crowd go insane. People were cheering and crying and he looked over to see his family sitting near the edge by the entrance. He didn't care that it wasn't manly but he felt choked up to see his family so proud of him.

The cameras panned to Gabriella's family as her mother was wiping away tears from her eyes. She stood next to her husband wearing team jackets. She glanced down to see Troy's aunt and mouthed a thank you to her. She nodded as tears fell from her eyes, she hugged Troy's mom that stood next to her.

Once they reached the boards Troy threw himself over the boards and hugged Elena tightly. He spoke into her ear, thanking her for all she had done for them. When he finally let go, Gabriella walked over and did the same.

The crowd began chanting as they made their way to the kiss and cry area. Gabriella laughed as she felt so giddy. It seemed nothing could compare to this moment. After so many years of training it finally felt like it was paying off. It didn't matter whether or not they won, they felt like winners. Gabriella felt the muscles in her cheek start to hurt from smiling so much.

The final pair began to warm up on the ice as Troy and Gabriella waited for their scores. The announcer's voice came over the speaker as she asked for the scores. It came that they got 110.42 and they needed a 103.60 to take the lead. Troy who normally held his composure, stood up and shouted. He pumped his fists in the air and Gabriella laughed as she watched him. She laughed in disbelief as the scores hit her. She stood up and hugged him and he pulled her up off the ground. As he put her down he placed a kiss on her cheek. They hugged Elena and then waved to the cheering crowd.

* * *

Gabriella held her water bottle close as they waiting for the final scores to come in. She stared at the floor as her stomach twisted into knots. The voice said the scores and she didn't bother doing the math.

"How'd we do?" she asked Troy who stood next to her.

"We came in second," he answered.

She felt her heart drop a little bit. Oh well, they had made it this far and that was enough.

"Oh, okay," she replied.

She glanced up to see his face and saw his face crack into a smile.

"I'm just kidding, we came in first!" he exclaimed.

"What?!" she said pulling him into a hug. They swayed as he chuckled.

"That wasn't nice," she said as they pulled away. She looked at his happy face and wasn't mad. She shook her head and laughed along with him. The pair went over to where their families sat and Troy jumped up into his family's arms. Them holding him up as his feet dangled. The families cried as they couldn't be more proud of the young adults in front of them. Elena came over and ushered them back over as they got ready for the medal ceremony.

Gabriella couldn't remember too much about what happened after. Every moment seemed to go by in fast forward. Next thing you know she was standing on the top of the podium and she felt Troy's hand on her shoulder, she placed her hand over his and rubbed his hand with her thumb.

The official stood in front of them and Gabriella bent forward and he placed the medal around her neck and gave her a bouquet of flowers. He then did the same for Troy. They waved to the crowd and then the national anthem began to play and the flag came down from the roof. She heard Troy behind her belting out the song. She closed her eyes and smiled. Nothing could compare to this moment.

**I really hope I did a good description of the dance and hope I didn't confuse you guys. I'll link the dance in my profile so you can really get the full picture. Again thank you so much for reading.**

**Read and Review  
-Kathryn**


	16. Epilogue

**A/N: I meant to get this out earlier, I swear, but it was my birthday and then Thanksgiving. And then my uncle passed away, so I've been spending a lot of my time at my Grandparents house. So sorry guys. Anyway, I think this is the first story that I've wrote that I'm happy with the ending. And thank you for sticking with this story, even though it took forever.**

Gabriella sat on the red couch with Troy by her side. In between them lay their fingers intertwine. Gabriella looked up at Troy as the producer began to count down. He took her hand and brought it to his lips to place a kiss there.

The news intro music played and the camera panned to the anchor. They watched as he introduced the couple to the viewers at home. On TV screens across the country, their free dance played as they recapped the night prior.

"And joining us today is the golden couple themselves, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. Congratulations to the both of you. Last night we saw not only your gold medal performance but your reactions to watching it on the playback, what was that like?" the anchorman asked.

"Normally I don't watch because I'm very critical of myself, but uh that was okay," Gabriella giggled.

"We were very happy with the way the program went, it went a lot like we rehearsed it. This sport is constantly evolving, and we're just happy to be a part of it." Troy explained.

"Did you know part way, that you just nailed it, that you were going to end up on the top of that podium?" the reporter asked.

Troy smiled, "those are very dangerous thoughts, the advice we got from previous Olympians, was to not think about it until it's absolutely over. You have to focus all the way through, you can blow it on the last element."

"For such a beautiful sport, it can also be fairly dangerous. You definitely have to trust your partner right?" the anchorman asked.

"There is definitely have to have trust between one another. We've been skating together for thirteen years, so there is a lot of trust, a lot of respect there. We train a lot and we put the hours in on the ice, as well as off the ice." Gabriella explained.

"Speaking of how long you have been skating together, you guys started skating together since you were kids. Do you think that is what made you to so successful?" the man asked.

"I definitely think that's a huge part of our success. It's a big part of our story. We know each other, we're the best of friends….we can just tell what each other is thinking." Troy smiled.

"So you two are just friends?" the anchorman asked with a grin. "Because judging from that kiss at the end you two are a lot closer than that."

"You know, when I'm on the ice, there's no other person I'd rather be holding hands with. There's no other person I'd want to go through the emotions with than Brie. I'm just so lucky to have the opportunity." Troy smiled at Gabriella.

The anchorman nodded to Gabriella, "that's one of the most beautiful compliments I've ever heard. And through all off Gabriella's injuries, you didn't find another person to train with, you used a sandbag." The man laughed.

"Well when you have the best partner in the world, there's no other girl you can just throw in there. So I just trained however I could. And Gabriella's so strong, and she's a fighter and nobody truly understands what she went through and to be Olympic champion, it's just…amazing." Troy explained.

"And we saw you mouth, 'thank you so much' Troy. Gabriella you must have felt 20 feet tall in that moment." He asked the girl sitting on the couch.

Gabriella nodded with a smile on her face, "yeah, that was a special moment. And like Troy said just to share it together, it's been such a long road. To finally have that dream come true, it didn't matter about the placement, we were just so happy with our performance."

"Show your medal," the anchorman, pointing to the awards that hung around their necks.

The pair lifted their medals to show them to the cameras pointed towards them.

"They're a lot heavier than they look," Gabriella laughed.

"And before we go, is there anything you would like to say to one another?" the man asked.

Gabriella look over and smiled at Troy, and just simply said thanks.

"We did it," Troy said, reaching over to grab her knee.

"Well thank you for joining us and congratulations to both of you again, and once again the youngest Olympic ice dance champions, Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton." The man said as he turned towards the camera.

* * *

Gabriella laced up her skates and went to the boards. She took off her guards and stepped onto the ice. Following her was Troy and a little girl in his arms. She turned on the camera in her hands and started to film.

"Emmi's first time skating," Troy announced to the camera in her hands. Taking the big mitts on her hands into his own hands, he began to skate backwards, slightly pulling the two year old along.

Gabriella and Troy had continued to skate for a few years after and winning a second Olympic four years later in their final year of skating. After that they had decided they wanted a try at normal life. The pair had gotten married a year after their last Olympics and a few months later had their daughter, Emmi Bolton. She was the spitting image of Gabriella, with Troy's sandy hair and bright blue eyes.

"Looks like we have a future Olympian here," Troy laughed.

"Whatever she wants to do, we'll be happy." Gabriella smiled.

Troy picked up Emmi and skated towards Gabriella bringing the two girls in his arms. He placed a kiss on Gabriella's dark hair. "Ten years ago, did you think we'd be here?" he asked his wife.

"No, I had no idea?" she laughed.

"I did," he smiled. "I always imagined a future with you. Even if we hadn't ended up together, I'd still be there for you."

She reached up and placed a kiss on his lips. She held his hand and the trio skated around the rink.

**I hope you guys liked it!**

**-Kathryn**


End file.
